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BUSINESS CLINIC OFFICE DESIGN


››EMPLOYEES IN GLASGOW FACE A PRIVACY CRISIS ACCORDING TO NEW RESEARCH. THE ANSWER IS A MIX OF WORK SPACES FOR DIFFERENT NEEDS


Office-based businesses in Glasgow are facing an unprecedented privacy crisis with their employees, new research has revealed. Aſter decades of open plan offices and an


unrelenting drive for shared work spaces, the number one complaint from office workers in Glasgow is now a lack of privacy. Extensive new international research


carried out by market researchers Ipsos and the Workspace Futures Team of Steelcase, the global leader in the office furniture industry, shows that 85 per cent of people are dissatisfied with their working environment and cannot concentrate. 31 per cent even leave the office to get work completed. More than 10,000 workers across 14


countries were questioned about their office environments and working paterns.


Key findings from the research »Office workers are losing 86 minutes per day


due to distractions. » Too many employees are chronically disengaged at work. » Tey are unmotivated, unproductive and overly stressed. » Tey have litle capacity to think and work creatively and constructively. » Te right balance between private and collaborative working spaces can deliver a step change in employee engagement and productivity.


Lawrence Morison, Managing Director of Steelcase Solutions, said: “Te drive for collaborative working spaces was founded on geting people working beter together. It has been enormously successful and has delivered efficiency on a major scale but too much interaction and not enough privacy has reached crisis proportions,


taking a heavy toll on workers’ creativity, productivity, engagement and wellbeing. “People not only expect privacy in their


private lives – they want it at the office as well. Our research has found that for people to collaborate with their colleagues more effectively, they need less ‘we’ time and more ‘me’ time than they are geting today. “Over the years we have seen office preferences


shiſt from more enclosed spaces to more open ones. But in some organisations the pendulum has swung too far,” said Mr Morison. “Many people do not realise that effective collaboration actually requires individual private time.” Workers in Glasgow are not, however,


looking to turn back the clock to the days when they were isolated in closed individual offices. Instead, they are desperately seeking


privacy within open plan setings – where they can function effectively and complete work without being driven to distraction. Te Ipsos survey showed that 95 per cent


of people identify having the ability to work privately as important, but less than half, 41 per cent, say they have the opportunity. “What people are now looking for is choice


and control in their workspace and that is now what is redefining privacy in the working environment”, said Mr Morison. » Privacy and engagement are ultimately linked » Privacy is a universal, basic need, people need privacy also in the office » Privacy today is about information and stimulation control » Achieving the right balance between working in privacy and working together is critical for any organisation. Te Steelcase-Ipsos research shows that


companies and organisations, commited to creating efficient, collaborative spaces, have


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not been considering privacy sufficiently in the design of their offices. Steelcase Solutions contends that it is


necessary to create an ‘ecosystem’ of different spaces where employees can choose the level of privacy they require. “Many offices have limited options, such


as individual workstations, private offices, conference rooms and a cafe”, explained Mr Morison. “However, having studied people at work in


depth, they need spaces for different types of work and these include formal and informal work in groups or alone. Some people find it inspiring and creative to work in a crowded, noisy environment whereas others prefer quieter spaces and quite oſten they want a mix of both. Te workplace needs to offer a variety of public and private spaces – for We and I work.” Nearly 70 per cent of workers questioned in


the Steelcase-Ipsos research worked in open spaces or in a combination of individual and open space offices and the results demonstrate a strong link between employees’ satisfaction with their work environment and their level of engagement. Engaged workers are most satisfied with


their work environment (31 per cent) while the least engaged are also the most dissatisfied (69 per cent). Te most satisfied and engaged workers say their workplace allows them to concentrate easily, work in teams without being interrupted, choose where to work within the office.


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